When I challenged Keeler and Deb Reese over the unwarranted and unbridled attack agains Roanhorse, several things became clear.

1) Some were duped into cooperating with Keeler

2) Some were willing participants because they felt threatened by Roanhorse’s success

Her Blackness was weaponized against her and “She’s Black not Native” was used *directly* as an initial attack vector, before the bogus “conquistador” allegations that were made. I am going to make one thing perfectly clear -

Even if those baseless claims were true, she is mother of two Navajo children. Under our traditional kinship system, that makes her kin. Period. But that’s not what Keeler, Reese, and Saad Bee Hozho were attacking

The inference was ALWAYS that Roanhorse is Black and therefore should not be writing Native stories, that her Blackness precluded her from being kin with or without any additional relationship to any Indigenous Nation

The attacks against her were always based on her being Black. When this was called out, the attack morphed into attacking her status as an adopted Native and falsely linking her to Spanish invaders - which is an act of violence by all involved

Let’s look at the dynamic involved for a moment: How can you almost guarantee making someone be shunned in Indian Country? By attempting to link them directly to those who first murdered our peoples and stole our lands and resources: Colonial Generals/Conquistadors

This appears to have been Keeler et al’s “Hail Mary” pass, knowing that was the most violent allegation anyone could make against a WoC, and one most likely to result in someone being ostracized. Their safety was assuming no one would know how traditional Navajo kinship works

They also drew safety by knowing that adoption papers are often sealed and it is very hard to prove kinship through documentation when someone has been adopted out, especially during the mass adoptions that occurred in the 60’s/70’s scoops

Let me reiterate: even if those allegations Keeler, Reese, and Saad Bee Hozho had made WERE true, Roanhorse would STILL be kin and have a relationship with the Navajo people

But those allegations are NOT true. The so-called “evidence” does not meet any empirical standard of evidence. They are based on claims made by Keeler, and documentation that does not relate to Roanhorse. Yet Keeler and her conspirators have refused to make a public retraction

Have refused to make a public apology. Some have doubled-down, as Keeler herself, and expanded the violence to include OTHER Black Indigenous voices, including those WITH DOCUMENTED CONNECTIONS WITH THEIR CLAIMED NATIONS. They have also claimed some entire Nations are fake

Keeler has consistently asserted that Cherokee Nation is a “fake” nation. She has stated that First Nations above the colonial border are not Indigenous. In an act of further violence, she has advocated for people to wear BLACKFACE to protest a football team

Without abatement, without apology, and with the assent of people such as Kim TallBear, Deb Reese, and the members of Saad Bee Hozho. And never once has anyone online or on the rez, recalled her ever speaking her own clans

This is a call for accountability and JUSTICE. This is NOT about bullying a flailing writer, this is about holding our own relatives to account for the violence they are perpetrating against those most at risk of being purposely or accidentally silenced

By one woman’s quest for power and authority to ultimately decide who is Native and who is not. This is a stand against violence against our Black Indigenous relatives, and a woman’s quest to wield power over Nations she is not a part of, like a self-appointed colonial authority